Franco Zeffirelli Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Similar to the stars of Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film Romeo & Juliet, who are suing Paramount for $100M+ for alleged sexual abuse and more, Brooke Shields also had an unsettling experience with the 2x Oscar nominated filmmaker during the production of Endless Love.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Marina Cicogna, Italy’s first major female film producer who shepherded films by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Franco Zeffirelli and Elio Petri, including Petri’s Oscar-winning “Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion,” has died. She was 89. Cicogna died on Nov.

a lawsuit over a nude scene in “Romeo and Juliet,” finding the 1968 film is protected under the First Amendment.Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting — both 72 and the titular stars of the Franco Zeffirelli flick — claimed they were coerced into performing nude in the film’s bedroom scene while minors.They accused Paramount Pictures of sexual exploitation and distribution of nude imagery of children in their December suit, which sought more than $500 million in alleged damages.Judge Alison Mackenzie granted Paramount’s motion to strike the lawsuit Thursday.Mackenzie rejected Hussey and Whiting’s argument that the nude scene could be considered “child pornography.” The judge also found the pair did not comply with a 2020 California law that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse lawsuits.According to court documents obtained by The Post, Mackenzie wrote there was no evidence the film included “sufficiently sexually suggestive as a matter of law to be held to be conclusively illegal.” Paramount requested to dismiss the suit under the state’s anti-SLAPP statute, which allows defendants to move to strike supposedly meritless complaints that could undermine free speech.Solomon Gresen, an attorney for Hussey and Whiting, said he plans to appeal the decision.“I was angry,” Gresen told The Post on Friday. “I think that the anti-female bias in this country is real, and it’s something that I have dedicated my career to trying to right the wrongs.”He added: “It’s abusive to take images of naked children.

A judge tossed a lawsuit brought by the actors in Franco Zeffirelli's "Romeo and Juliet" on Thursday. Actors Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, who are now 72, originally claimed that a nude scene in the 1968 film was child pornography and that the pair had been sexually abused while filming it.

A Los Angeles County judge on Thursday said she will dismiss a lawsuit that the stars of 1968’s Romeo and Juliet filed over the film’s nude scene, which they said involved them being subjected to fraud, and sexual abuse and harassment when they were in their teens. Superior Court Judge Alison Mackenzie ruled in favour of a motion from defendant Paramount Pictures to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Olivia Hussey, who played Juliet at age 15 and is now 72, and Leonard Whiting, who played Romeo at 16 and is also 72.

“Romeo & Juliet” who claim they were coerced by director Franco Zeffirelli into performing a nude scene as teenagers. In a tentative ruling filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Judge Alison Mackenzie ruled that the plaintiffs’ case did not sufficiently prove that the nude scene amounted to “child pornography” and therefore overrode the film’s First Amendment protections as an artistic work.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer A judge on Thursday said she will throw out a lawsuit over a nude scene in the 1968 version of “Romeo and Juliet,” after finding that the film is protected by the First Amendment. The stars of the film, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, filed the suit in December, alleging that they were coerced by director Franco Zeffirelli into performing nude in the film’s bedroom scene. Hussey was 16 at the time of filming; Whiting was 17. Judge Alison Mackenzie granted Paramount’s motion to throw out the suit, finding that the plaintiffs had not complied with the provisions of a California law that temporarily suspended the statute of limitations for child sex abuse claims.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Paramount has filed a motion to throw out a lawsuit over the 1968 version of “Romeo and Juliet,” arguing that a nude scene with underage actors does not amount to “childhood sexual assault.” Actors Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting were 16 and 17 when they starred in the movie, which was directed by Franco Zeffirelli. The film’s famous bedroom scene includes a lingering shot of Whiting’s buttocks and a brief glimpse of Hussey’s breasts. The actors, now in their 70s, filed a $500 million suit in December, alleging that Zeffirelli pressured them into performing in the nude. They accused Paramount, the distributor, of profiting from their sexual exploitation.

Brooke Sheilds takes control of the narrative by sharing her story in her own words in the Hulu documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, from director Lana Wilson.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Brooke Shields revealed on “The Drew Barrymore Show” that she received a phone call from “The Blue Lagoon” director Randal Kleiser following the release of her new Hulu documentary “Pretty Baby.” In the documentary, the supermodel and actor called out “The Blue Lagoon” for exploiting her sexual awakening when she was just 14 years old. “They wanted to make it a reality show,” Shields says in the documentary about “The Blue Lagoon” and other films she made as a teen actor. “They wanted to sell my actual sexual awakening. The irony was, I wasn’t in touch with any of my own sexuality.” “The Blue Lagoon” stars Shields opposite Christopher Atkins. The two actors play teens stranded on a tropical island who experience puberty together and fall in love. The film is one of many that Shields calls out in the documentary for exploiting her at such a young age. Other titles include Louis Malle’s “Pretty Baby” and Franco Zeffirelli’s “Endless Love.”

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Prior to becoming an actor, Giancarlo Giannini, who on March 6 will be getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, studied electronic engineering, a skill he’s been known to put to good use even on movie sets. “I was meant to start working on the first artificial satellites, or on the first computers at IBM,” the Italian film and theater thesp recalls. But then Giannini enrolled in acting school and soon was given major roles, first by Franco Zeffirelli and then by Lina Wertmüller, with whom he went on to make nine movies that brought them both international fame. “I owe it to Lina that I will be getting the star. The only other Italian actor who has one is Rudolph Valentino,” he notes.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields,” a documentary about Brooke Shields and the sexual objectification she endured as a child actor, will release on Hulu on April 3. In the two-part documentary, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, the actor and model opens up for the first time about her earliest experiences in Hollywood. The film tracks her rise as a child advertising model to her sexualization in movies, starting at age 12, in “Pretty Baby” (1978), and then at 15, in “The Blue Lagoon” (1980). “I spent my life owing people things and doing whatever they wanted,” Shields says in a new teaser dropped Wednesday morning. “I finally asked myself, ‘What will I be if I don’t allow that anymore?'”

In her forthcoming documentary about her life and long career, Brooke Shields describes in detail an assault she experienced at the hands of somebody she terms “an industry insider”. 

Pippo Zeffirelli, son of Romeo and Juliet director Franco Zeffirelli, is criticizing the lawsuit brought by that film’s stars, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting.

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The lead actors of the 1968 film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet have filed a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures for sexual harassment over the movie’s nude scene.

Almost 55 years after the Oscar nominated adaptation of Romeo & Juliet from director  Franco Zeffirelli came out, the stars of the film are now suing Paramount Pictures for more than $100 million for alleged sexual abuse, negligence and more.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent With “Chiara,” Susanna Nicchiarelli’s portrait of Saint Clare of Assisi – the 13th century saint born into a wealthy family who at age 18 became a nun after hearing St. Francis preach – the Italian director completes her trilogy of female biopics, segueing from “Nico, 1988” and “Miss Marx,” which both launched from Venice’s Horizons section. With “Chiara,” she makes the leap into the main Venice competition. Nicchiarelli spoke to Variety about what drew her to portraying this prototypical feminist and directing “My Brilliant Friend” star Margherita Mazzucco in the pic’s titular role. Excerpts. What drove you to want to tell us this story about St. Clare?Well, first of all, I was always passionate about Saint Francis. I have a very strong memory when I first saw Franco Zeffirelli’s “Brother Sun, Sister Moon.” I was at school when they showed it to us and this boy, this man, taking his clothes off in front of the Bishop. That was a very strong image. Francis’ battle speaks to us just as much today because it’s a battle for poverty, against social injustice. It’s about being on the side of the poor, of those who are different, and the injustices of a society in which very few have everything and then most have nothing. So, this was their battle. The medieval society was like that. It’s not so different from the way it is now.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorEva Zaoralová, the Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival’s artistic advisor and its artistic director for many years, has died, the festival confirmed Friday.

SAN FRANCISCO -- John Adams’ version of “Antony and Cleopatra” will have its world premiere on Sept. 10 on the opening weekend of the San Francisco Opera’s 100th season.Soprano Julia Bullock sings Cleopatra, baritone Gerald Finley will be Antony, tenor Paul Appleby will portray Caesar and music director Eun Sun Kim will conduct, the company said Wednesday.The libretto was adapted by Adams, with additional passages from Plutarch and Virgil.